VETERAN Filipino judge Rey Danseco will be one of the three judges for the coming World Boxing Council (WBC) International bantamweight title fight between Guillermo “The Jackal” Rigondeaux of Cuba and Vincent “Asero” Astrolabio of the Philippines on Feb. 26 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Danseco, the United States-based boxing judge with a long experience in more than 40 major international fights, was appointed by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman as one of the five ring officials to the Rigondeaux-Astrolabio title fight.

In the appointment letter sent by the WBC Executive Office, Danseco wws appointed as one of the three judges along with Bela Florian of Hungary and Gary Kitanoski of England.

Miguel de Pablos of Spain will be the WBC official, while Hector Afu of Panama will be the referee.

The Rigondeaux-Astrolabio showdown is expected to be one of the most exciting title fights for the year.

Rigodeaux, nicknamed “The Jackal”, is a former world champion from Cuba. He held the unified WBA (Super), WBO and Ring magazine super bantamweight titles between 2013 and 2017, and the WBA (Regular) bantamweight title from 2020 to 2021.

His biggest win came against Filipino pride Nonito “The Flash” Donaire in 2013.

The 41-year-old Rigondeaux, however, lost to John Riel Casimero of the Philippines via a split decision in a title match in Carson, California last August 14, 2021.

His next Filipino opponent, Astrolabio, is no pushover.

Astrolabio, who trains regularly at Manny Pacquiao Boxing Gym in Davao, boasts of an impressive 16-3 record with 12 knockouts.

The 24-year-old pride 9f General Santos City is on a four-fight winning streak, all of which ended in knockouts.

He needed only one round to stop Jerry Pabila of Cotabato in their super bantamweight eight-rounder at the Bula Gym in GenSan last February 27, 2021.

Although this will only be Astrolabio’s first international fight, MP Boxing Gym coach Nonoy Neri believes he can upset the older and more-experienced Rigondeux.

“Astrolabio is much younger, has a power punch and a big heart,” Neri was quoted as saying in earlier interviews.